Raised in the shadow of Celtic Park in Glasgow, he is a practising Catholic who rarely swears, never drinks, and for whom Mass on Sunday is as much part of the routine of life as football on Saturday. In the coming months, there could be clashes between the old religion and the new religion that is football. Because, thanks in large part to Coyle, Burnley are in the Premier League for the first time in the club's history. Sky TV may not want them playing on Sunday as often as the Big Four, but Burnley and Coyle will have their moments in the global spotlight.

That his faith is so important to him was probably not known to the Burnley fan who first raised the banner that read: "Owen Coyle is God." In one of the most bizarre TV moments of this year, the same message then appeared in the crowd at a televised US Wrestlemania event. The cult of Coyle was under way. As this season develops, might there be a little jealousy among richer, better-known managers when Coyle's name is sung more than that of any of the players?

At the Wembley play-off final against Sheffield United in May, when Wade Elliott's wonder goal secured promotion, hundreds among the 36,000 Burnley fans wore Owen Coyle masks. With promotion, the legend grew. A local butcher created a sausage in his honour. "Owen Coyle is God" banners started to appear in the windows of kids' bedrooms. Oh, and Celtic came knocking at his door.

"I'm not going to pretend that I didn't think about it," he tells me. "I'm a Celtic fan. It's where I'm from, a big part of who I am, and of course with Celtic there's the chance of Champions League football. But then I looked at what we had built at Burnley, what we had achieved already, here on merit in the best league in the world, I thought of players I'd persuaded to be part of this, and in the end, I knew I had to stay and carry on this incredible adventure."

As for the somewhat blasphemous banners that raise him to the level of deity, he says simply: "I don't think there is any insult to God in there, just an indication of how much football means to people, and how much this club means to the people here."

It has all happened so quickly. Coyle was appointed in November 2007 to replace Steve Cotterill. Cue Burnley fans scouring websites of Scottish football clubs where he had been a player: Dumbarton, Clydebank, Airdrie, Dundee United, Motherwell, Dunfermline, Ross County, Falkirk, St Johnstone. Sure, he played for Bolton too - scoring in the 1994 play-off final that took them to the Premiership - got one cap for Ireland, as his parents were from Donegal, and scored almost 300 goals in 600 games, but this was not an obvious choice.

So fans dug into his record as a manager. Player-coach at Airdrie under Sandy Stewart (now Coyle's number two), then co-player/manager at Falkirk, helping to win promotions at both clubs, before he landed his first top job with St Johnstone in 2005. He was preparing them for the Scottish Challenge Cup final two years later, when the approach came from Burnley in November 2007. Coyle accepted and long-term acquaintance Stewart took charge for the Saints' 3-2 win against Dunfermline before joining him at Turf Moor.

Not a bad backdrop to the move, then. But still, to most fans he was an unknown quantity. Sir Alex Ferguson admitted to me at the time that he knew little about his fellow Scot. He suggested I try Alex McLeish. It turned out McLeish had given a glowing reference to the Burnley board. But the big recommendation had come from Bolton chairman Phil Gartside; Coyle had been on the club's shortlist before they went for Gary Megson. If Burnley take points off Bolton this year, Wanderers fans will not be thanking their chairman.

"It kind of came out of the blue," says Coyle at the end of a pre-season session in July at Burnley's Gawthorpe training ground, where I filming for a BBC North West documentary on what the club's promotion means to the town. "But it felt right. I was immediately seized of the opportunity and confident we could do things here. Obviously I knew about Burnley's history, how they were once one of the top clubs in the country, fallen a bit on hard times, I suppose, but established in the Championship and with ambitions to get to the Premier League. It was never going to be easy, but it did feel right."

In any event, the deed was done and fans were going to have to judge Coyle on their own impressions - and results. First came the obvious commitment to attacking football. Players who had been looking a bit tired and flat suddenly seemed re-energised. Andy Cole came in on loan in January 2008 and spoke highly of Coyle, who was meanwhile displaying a terrific off-field manner, great with staff and supporters, an assured communicator on TV.

Yet his first full season could hardly have got off to a worse start. Hammered 4-1 at Sheffield Wednesday, then at home by Ipswich in August 2008. Bottom of the league. "Yes, it was bad, but I still felt confident we had the makings of a proper team. Sometimes you learn more about yourself in adversity than in victory, and we learned not just from the bad start, but how we put it right. Obviously when we came here, the plan was one day to get to the Premier League. Maybe we just did it a wee bit ahead of schedule, after a shaky start."

By September he was winning his first English manager of the month award, after five wins and a draw, including the first of several Carling Cup Premier League scalps, Fulham. Then an incredible win in November at Chelsea, on penalties, after going behind to a Didier Drogba goal, perhaps another nail in the Luiz Felipe Scolari coffin. Then Arsenal, 2-0 at home. By now, Fergie was interested enough to come along to Burnley and enjoy Arsène Wenger's pain, and say very good things about Coyle's Clarets. "This is good football," he said to me, shortly before the first goal. "He's playing Arsenal the way they don't like it, high tempo, in their faces, don't let them settle."

Then came a great first half at Spurs in the Carling cup semi-final first leg in January, followed by a wretched 20 minutes which left us needing three goals in the second leg to get back on level terms. That we got them says wonders for the spirit Coyle engendered among his tiny squad. Losing two minutes from the end of extra time was a horrible blow.

Meanwhile, we had endured another bad run in the league. But Coyle got the squad going again and the play-offs were always in sight. Two wins against Reading, with two more wonder goals from Martin Paterson and Steve Thompson in the away leg, and then, finally, Wembley, and promotion.

"I'm not daft and I know that this year is going to be tough. The bookies already have us favourites to go down. But we can take a lot of hope out of the way we handled ourselves last year, not just the cup runs, but big pressure matches in the Championship. Of course everyone knows there is a gulf between the Championship and the Premier League. With the pace and power at this level it's almost a different game, but we have good players and we have a great spirit, and we are here on merit.

"I don't have the kind of money the big clubs have to splash out for the top players, but I have a good board: when I've asked for support I've got it and we've brought in some good new players. We will give it a go, that's for sure. And just as Stoke made it very hard for the big clubs last year, I think people will see that this is a tough place to come to. This is a football town."

Stoke away is Burnley's first game of the season. Then get this. Man Utd at home. Everton at home. Chelsea away. Liverpool away. Four of the top five in the first month.

"It is certainly a tough start but you'd rather be playing these teams than being back in the lower leagues. I will have the smallest budget, the smallest squad, the lowest wage bill. But as individuals and as a team, they are top class. Everything I have asked of them, they have delivered. Even when we were on that bad run, I always had belief in them and they had belief in themselves."

Of his footballing philosophy, Coyle says the best sight in the game is the ball hitting the back of the net. Second best is a winger taking on a defender. "I love playing with wingers. I love the passing game. Of course it is about winning but we have a duty to entertain."

As for a personal philosophy, Coyle thinks the reason working-class Scotland has produced so many great managers is a desire to win, matched to the belief that to get on you have to make the most of yourself. "As a player I was always very light for a striker so I had to maximise my strengths. Now, as a manager, I have to get the players to play to theirs and gel them as a team."

Coyle was not even alive when Burnley, a founder member of the Football League, won the old First Division. Just turned 43, he was born in 1966.

A good year for English football indeed. He was nine when we last made the drop from the top flight, in 1976, our last home game seen by 11,675 fans. And he would have been a young pro with Dumbarton when, a mere 11 years later, we had to beat Orient on the final day of the season to avoid becoming the first team automatically to drop out of the Football League.

"This club means so much to the people here and I think that was the point when they realised it. You can feel how much it means right now. The whole place is buzzing. As you go around the town, it is amazing how many people you see in the club colours, and, unlike most places, you just don't see people wearing United or Liverpool or Chelsea strips. Last year we were fourth bottom in the Championship in terms of revenue and turnover, and 21st in terms of crowd numbers. But per head of population, this is the best supported club in the country. This is a town whose entire population can just about fit inside Old Trafford. You really feel the passion there is for it. The area has had a few challenges down the years, and still does, but I think the football club acts as a unifying force and particularly now, people are taking a lot of pride and hope in where we are.

"I know what the challenge is, and how hard it will be. But we are here and we're determined to do all we can to stay here. Last year we went toe-to-toe with some of the best clubs in the world and showed we can match them. Now we just have to do it week in, week out. What could be better than that?"

Up and coming: the three new promotions

Wolverhampton Wanderers

Manager The Barnsley baritone, Mick McCarthy

Key player Striker Sylvan Ebanks-Blake once released by Man United, was last year's top scorer in the Championship with 25 goals.

Pre-season smack talk "We're not coming up to be also-rans, we're coming up to make our mark," says chairman Steve Morgan.

Last time they were up A forgettable one-term visit in 2003-2004 under Dave Jones. McCarthy also has bitter experience of a short stay in the Premier League: his Sunderland side gathered a then record-low 15 points after promotion in 2005-2006.

Chances of staying up If Ebanks-Blake and new signing Kevin Doyle can bag goals, Wolves' young, hungry squad should do enough to secure a second Prem season.

Birmingham City

Manager "Big Eck" Alex McLeish, successful manager of Scotland until the Blues poached him in 2007

Key player Summer signing Joe Hart lost his place as Manchester City goalkeeper last season, but he will be crucial to Birmingham's survival hopes.

Pre-season smack talk Curiously, McLeish has been talking their chances down. "We're not yet strong enough to meet the challenge in the Premier League," McLeish said in July. "We need more players."

Last time they were up Steve Bruce left mid-season after six years at the helm; McLeish arrived too late to stave off relegation.

Chances of staying up Recent history suggests another tumble, then promotion again in time for 2011-2012.

Burnley

Manager Owen Coyle

Key player Chris Eagles shows up for training in a £150,000 Lamborghini - the kind of gesture that will serve him well in the top flight.